IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i11p6295-d567530.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Advances in Solar Energy towards Efficient and Sustainable Energy

Author

Listed:
  • Nuria Novas

    (Department of Engineering, University of Almeria, ceiA3, 04120 Almeria, Spain)

  • Rosa María Garcia

    (Department of Engineering, University of Almeria, ceiA3, 04120 Almeria, Spain)

  • Jose Manuel Camacho

    (Department of Engineering, University of Almeria, ceiA3, 04120 Almeria, Spain)

  • Alfredo Alcayde

    (Department of Engineering, University of Almeria, ceiA3, 04120 Almeria, Spain)

Abstract

Conventional energy resources are not climate sustainable. Currently, engineers and scientists are looking for sustainable energy solutions influenced by climate change. A wide variety of sustainable natural energy resources are available, but they require technical solutions for their implementation. The general trend in energy research is based on renewable resources, amongst which solar energy stands out, being the most mature and widely accepted. In this paper, the current state of the sustainable energy system has been analysed. The main purpose is to provide additional context to assess future scenarios. The study of past contributions allows sustainability planning and increasing the welfare of future society. The aim is to highlight global trends in research on sustainable solar energy from 1995 to 2020 through a bibliometric analysis of 4260 publications. According to their linkages, the analysed articles are distributed in nine clusters: Sustainability assessment, Sustainable energy solutions, Environmental payback time analysis, Sustainability of solar energy in different scenarios, Environmental sustainability, Solar energy applications, Sustainable energy optimisation, Energy transition and Energy and sustainable scenarios. The most repeated keywords are Sustainability, Renewable energy, and Solar energy. Energy research and the exploration of new renewable solar resources are still necessary to meet sustainable energy’s future challenges.

Suggested Citation

  • Nuria Novas & Rosa María Garcia & Jose Manuel Camacho & Alfredo Alcayde, 2021. "Advances in Solar Energy towards Efficient and Sustainable Energy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-31, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:11:p:6295-:d:567530
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/11/6295/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/11/6295/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lu, L. & Yang, H.X., 2010. "Environmental payback time analysis of a roof-mounted building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system in Hong Kong," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(12), pages 3625-3631, December.
    2. Brent, Alan Colin & Rogers, David E., 2010. "Renewable rural electrification: Sustainability assessment of mini-hybrid off-grid technological systems in the African context," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 257-265.
    3. Streimikiene, Dalia & Balezentis, Tomas & Krisciukaitienė, Irena & Balezentis, Alvydas, 2012. "Prioritizing sustainable electricity production technologies: MCDM approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 3302-3311.
    4. Caliskan, Hakan, 2017. "Energy, exergy, environmental, enviroeconomic, exergoenvironmental (EXEN) and exergoenviroeconomic (EXENEC) analyses of solar collectors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 488-492.
    5. Glasnovic, Zvonimir & Margeta, Jure, 2009. "The features of sustainable Solar Hydroelectric Power Plant," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 1742-1751.
    6. Ndukwu, M.C. & Bennamoun, L. & Abam, F.I. & Eke, A.B. & Ukoha, D., 2017. "Energy and exergy analysis of a solar dryer integrated with sodium sulfate decahydrate and sodium chloride as thermal storage medium," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1182-1192.
    7. Sarah Feron, 2016. "Sustainability of Off-Grid Photovoltaic Systems for Rural Electrification in Developing Countries: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-26, December.
    8. Ong, H.C. & Mahlia, T.M.I. & Masjuki, H.H., 2011. "A review on energy scenario and sustainable energy in Malaysia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 639-647, January.
    9. Philippe Mongeon & Adèle Paul-Hus, 2016. "The journal coverage of Web of Science and Scopus: a comparative analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 106(1), pages 213-228, January.
    10. Onat, Nevzat & Bayar, Haydar, 2010. "The sustainability indicators of power production systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(9), pages 3108-3115, December.
    11. Yang, Q. & Chen, G.Q. & Liao, S. & Zhao, Y.H. & Peng, H.W. & Chen, H.P., 2013. "Environmental sustainability of wind power: An emergy analysis of a Chinese wind farm," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 229-239.
    12. Pirasteh, G. & Saidur, R. & Rahman, S.M.A. & Rahim, N.A., 2014. "A review on development of solar drying applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 133-148.
    13. Yano, Akira & Cossu, Marco, 2019. "Energy sustainable greenhouse crop cultivation using photovoltaic technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 116-137.
    14. Aman, M.M. & Solangi, K.H. & Hossain, M.S. & Badarudin, A. & Jasmon, G.B. & Mokhlis, H. & Bakar, A.H.A. & Kazi, S.N, 2015. "A review of Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE) issues of solar energy system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1190-1204.
    15. Md. Sanwar Hossain & Abu Jahid & Khondoker Ziaul Islam & Mohammed H. Alsharif & Md. Fayzur Rahman, 2020. "Multi-Objective Optimum Design of Hybrid Renewable Energy System for Sustainable Energy Supply to a Green Cellular Networks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-35, April.
    16. Ahmad, Salman & Tahar, Razman Mat, 2014. "Selection of renewable energy sources for sustainable development of electricity generation system using analytic hierarchy process: A case of Malaysia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 458-466.
    17. Md. Sanwar Hossain & Khondoker Ziaul Islam & Abu Jahid & Khondokar Mizanur Rahman & Sarwar Ahmed & Mohammed H. Alsharif, 2020. "Renewable Energy-Aware Sustainable Cellular Networks with Load Balancing and Energy-Sharing Technique," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-33, November.
    18. Cossu, Marco & Cossu, Andrea & Deligios, Paola A. & Ledda, Luigi & Li, Zhi & Fatnassi, Hicham & Poncet, Christine & Yano, Akira, 2018. "Assessment and comparison of the solar radiation distribution inside the main commercial photovoltaic greenhouse types in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 822-834.
    19. Dominković, D.F. & Bačeković, I. & Ćosić, B. & Krajačić, G. & Pukšec, T. & Duić, N. & Markovska, N., 2016. "Zero carbon energy system of South East Europe in 2050," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1517-1528.
    20. Peng, Jinqing & Lu, Lin & Yang, Hongxing, 2013. "Review on life cycle assessment of energy payback and greenhouse gas emission of solar photovoltaic systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 255-274.
    21. Cossu, Marco & Murgia, Lelia & Ledda, Luigi & Deligios, Paola A. & Sirigu, Antonella & Chessa, Francesco & Pazzona, Antonio, 2014. "Solar radiation distribution inside a greenhouse with south-oriented photovoltaic roofs and effects on crop productivity," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 89-100.
    22. Raúl Aroca-Delgado & José Pérez-Alonso & Ángel Jesús Callejón-Ferre & Borja Velázquez-Martí, 2018. "Compatibility between Crops and Solar Panels: An Overview from Shading Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-19, March.
    23. La Notte, Luca & Giordano, Lorena & Calabrò, Emanuele & Bedini, Roberto & Colla, Giuseppe & Puglisi, Giovanni & Reale, Andrea, 2020. "Hybrid and organic photovoltaics for greenhouse applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    24. Afgan, Naim H. & Carvalho, Maria G. & Hovanov, Nikolai V., 2000. "Energy system assessment with sustainability indicators," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(9), pages 603-612, July.
    25. Krajacic, Goran & Duic, Neven & Carvalho, Maria da Graça, 2011. "How to achieve a 100% RES electricity supply for Portugal?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 508-517, February.
    26. Hepbasli, Arif, 2008. "A key review on exergetic analysis and assessment of renewable energy resources for a sustainable future," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 593-661, April.
    27. Fernandez-Gonzalez, C. & Dominguez-Ramos, A. & Ibañez, R. & Irabien, A., 2015. "Sustainability assessment of electrodialysis powered by photovoltaic solar energy for freshwater production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 604-615.
    28. Eltawil, Mohamed A. & Zhengming, Zhao & Yuan, Liqiang, 2009. "A review of renewable energy technologies integrated with desalination systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(9), pages 2245-2262, December.
    29. Kasaeian, Alibakhsh & Bellos, Evangelos & Shamaeizadeh, Armin & Tzivanidis, Christos, 2020. "Solar-driven polygeneration systems: Recent progress and outlook," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ngakan Ketut Acwin Dwijendra & Untung Rahardja & Narukullapati Bharath Kumar & Indrajit Patra & Musaddak Maher Abdul Zahra & Yulia Finogenova & John William Grimaldo Guerrero & Samar Emad Izzat & Taif, 2022. "An Analysis of Urban Block Initiatives Influencing Energy Consumption and Solar Energy Absorption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-14, November.
    2. Meshari Alsharari & Ammar Armghan & Khaled Aliqab, 2023. "Numerical Analysis and Parametric Optimization of T-Shaped Symmetrical Metasurface with Broad Bandwidth for Solar Absorber Application Based on Graphene Material," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-15, February.
    3. Stephany Isabel Vallarta-Serrano & Edgar Santoyo-Castelazo & Edgar Santoyo & Esther O. García-Mandujano & Holkan Vázquez-Sánchez, 2023. "Integrated Sustainability Assessment Framework of Industry 4.0 from an Energy Systems Thinking Perspective: Bibliometric Analysis and Systematic Literature Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-30, July.
    4. Francisco Portillo & Rosa María García & Alfredo Alcayde & José Antonio Gázquez & Manuel Fernández-Ros & Nuria Novas, 2021. "Prospective Environmental and Economic Assessment of a Sensor Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-19, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carlos Toledo & Alessandra Scognamiglio, 2021. "Agrivoltaic Systems Design and Assessment: A Critical Review, and a Descriptive Model towards a Sustainable Landscape Vision (Three-Dimensional Agrivoltaic Patterns)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-38, June.
    2. La Notte, Luca & Giordano, Lorena & Calabrò, Emanuele & Bedini, Roberto & Colla, Giuseppe & Puglisi, Giovanni & Reale, Andrea, 2020. "Hybrid and organic photovoltaics for greenhouse applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    3. Saraswat, S.K. & Digalwar, Abhijeet K., 2021. "Empirical investigation and validation of sustainability indicators for the assessment of energy sources in India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    4. Li, Zhi & Yano, Akira & Yoshioka, Hidekazu, 2020. "Feasibility study of a blind-type photovoltaic roof-shade system designed for simultaneous production of crops and electricity in a greenhouse," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    5. Saraswat, S.K. & Digalwar, Abhijeet K., 2021. "Evaluation of energy alternatives for sustainable development of energy sector in India: An integrated Shannon’s entropy fuzzy multi-criteria decision approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 58-74.
    6. Luthra, Sunil & Mangla, Sachin Kumar & Kharb, Ravinder K., 2015. "Sustainable assessment in energy planning and management in Indian perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 58-73.
    7. Javier Padilla & Carlos Toledo & Rodolfo López-Vicente & Raquel Montoya & José-Ramón Navarro & José Abad & Antonio Urbina, 2021. "Passive Heating and Cooling of Photovoltaic Greenhouses Including Thermochromic Materials," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-22, January.
    8. Ma, Qianlei & Zhang, Yi & Wu, Gang & Yang, Qichang & Wang, Wei & Chen, Xinge & Ji, Yaning, 2023. "Study on the effect of anti-reflection film on the spectral performance of the spectral splitting covering applied to greenhouse," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    9. Yano, Akira & Cossu, Marco, 2019. "Energy sustainable greenhouse crop cultivation using photovoltaic technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 116-137.
    10. Fernández, Eduardo F. & Villar-Fernández, Antonio & Montes-Romero, Jesús & Ruiz-Torres, Laura & Rodrigo, Pedro M. & Manzaneda, Antonio J. & Almonacid, Florencia, 2022. "Global energy assessment of the potential of photovoltaics for greenhouse farming," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    11. Mainali, Brijesh & Silveira, Semida, 2015. "Using a sustainability index to assess energy technologies for rural electrification," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1351-1365.
    12. Tang, Shengwen & Chen, Jingtao & Sun, Peigui & Li, Yang & Yu, Peng & Chen, E., 2019. "Current and future hydropower development in Southeast Asia countries (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 239-249.
    13. Ishizaka, Alessio & Siraj, Sajid & Nemery, Philippe, 2016. "Which energy mix for the UK (United Kingdom)? An evolutive descriptive mapping with the integrated GAIA (graphical analysis for interactive aid)–AHP (analytic hierarchy process) visualization tool," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 602-611.
    14. Fudholi, Ahmad & Sopian, Kamaruzzaman, 2019. "A review of solar air flat plate collector for drying application," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 333-345.
    15. Gorjian, Shiva & Bousi, Erion & Özdemir, Özal Emre & Trommsdorff, Max & Kumar, Nallapaneni Manoj & Anand, Abhishek & Kant, Karunesh & Chopra, Shauhrat S., 2022. "Progress and challenges of crop production and electricity generation in agrivoltaic systems using semi-transparent photovoltaic technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    16. Raza, Muhammad Amir & Khatri, Krishan Lal & Hussain, Arslan, 2022. "Transition from fossilized to defossilized energy system in Pakistan," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 19-29.
    17. Ludin, Norasikin Ahmad & Mustafa, Nur Ifthitah & Hanafiah, Marlia M. & Ibrahim, Mohd Adib & Asri Mat Teridi, Mohd & Sepeai, Suhaila & Zaharim, Azami & Sopian, Kamaruzzaman, 2018. "Prospects of life cycle assessment of renewable energy from solar photovoltaic technologies: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 11-28.
    18. Bilgili, Faik & Koçak, Emrah & Bulut, Ümit & Kuşkaya, Sevda, 2017. "Can biomass energy be an efficient policy tool for sustainable development?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 830-845.
    19. Magdalena Tutak & Jarosław Brodny & Dominika Siwiec & Robert Ulewicz & Peter Bindzár, 2020. "Studying the Level of Sustainable Energy Development of the European Union Countries and Their Similarity Based on the Economic and Demographic Potential," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-31, December.
    20. Punia Sindhu, Sonal & Nehra, Vijay & Luthra, Sunil, 2016. "Recognition and prioritization of challenges in growth of solar energy using analytical hierarchy process: Indian outlook," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 332-348.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:11:p:6295-:d:567530. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.